McCain discounts ticket-balancing (and need for regional balance for running mate)

AP on Yahoo ^ | 2/8/08 | Libby Quaid - ap

[Gator113]

Ok McCain, but could you tell us, will it be someone shorter than you?

[hinckley buzzard]

"He's in this race, and for me to dismiss him would be inappropriate and unrealistic."

Maybe he's just being kind, but he's lying here.

Oh c'mon. This is standard political speech. Don't mean nothing. Get used to it, because you're gonna hear it for the rest of your life.

[CatDancer]

Since I first saw this article and saved it to post, there were two paragraphs omitted in this version of it:

from

"A day after a conciliatory speech to conservative activists, many of whom distrust him, McCain acknowledged to reporters, "I know that we have a lot of work to do to unite the party."

"He earned the backing late Friday of one prominent conservative, one-time rival and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.

"Through his character and determination, John McCain has effectively beaten the field in the primary. It is time for Republicans to acknowledge the fact that, in Senator McCain we have a man who can win in November at a time that odds will be against us," Thompson said in a statement."

This is my link:

LINK

How did the paragraphs containing this endorsement by Fred get left out?

[NormsRevenge]

wire pieces get updated , sometimes frequently, I have seen 3, 4, and 5 versions in a short period of time pop up on the wire..

[bpjam]

I can’t think of a conservative that McCain could pick that would make me think of him any differently. Or a conservative who I thought would have any influence over McCain on any policy. The guy is a megalomaniac with a foul temper.

Plus, I don’t know of any conservative who would like to sacrifice his career and his principles to sign onto a guy who wants to do what McCain already promised he would do to us.

On the other side, who thinks that Hillary would pick somebody who was going to be anything more than a puppet for her to do what she planned to do anyways. Clintons are all about Clintons and I think McCain has never been about anything other than McCain. I’d actually bet that McCain is seriously thinking about picking somebody hispanic.

[Just mythoughts]

Think people think why does McCain neeeeeeeed MORALS voters???? Hillary stood by her man, has he stood by his women????

[JaneNC]

Besides Hillary gets 20 per cent of the born again vote.

I don’t think they are too picky....eh?

[BillyBoy]

>> I like Martinez -- I think he gets a bum rap -- but obviously some immigration folks aren't crazy about him. <<

Ignoring his poor record on immigration, Martinez is still a mediocre first term Senator who was a failure as RNC chairman, and best remembered for being so incompetent as Senator that he "accidentally" handed the GOP "talking points" memo on Terri Schiavo to the RATs. He wouldn't even be Senator today except for A) Making a career out of being a Bush yes-man, and B) Being selected on the basis of his ethnicity because the GOP officials wanted to have a "Hispanic Senator" to showcase "diversity" in the party.

If he were any other first term Senator which such a laughable record on "leadership", his candidacy would be a joke. You don't see the Dems discuss Mark Dayton for V.P., do you?